NJ Transit posts best on-time performance in 2012

New Jersey Transit achieved record on-time performance (OTP) for trains during the 2012 calendar year.

The improved OTP is a direct result of NJ Transit's "Scorecard" initiative, which launched in 2011 as part of Gov. Chris Christie Administration's push for increased accountability and transparency in the state government and its agencies and uses performance standards, clear metrics and customer input to drive strategic decisions.

Using "Scorecard" as a guide, NJ Transit's Rail Division made tremendous improvements in 2012 that resulted in a record calendar year OTP of 96.4 percent, breaking the previous record of 96.2 percent set in 1995. This was achieved even while operating nearly 23 percent more trains than the former record calendar year.

NJ Transit Rail also set or tied several monthly on-time performance records in 2012 by using qualitative metrics to identify trends in equipment maintenance and state-of-good-repair infrastructure projects, as well as to refine situational protocols.

Customer feedback gathered through quarterly customer surveys, as well as from "We Are Listening" forums that give customers the opportunity to interact with senior management and operations personnel, is being used to target specific improvements needed to boost customer satisfaction.

To support "Scorecard," NJ Transit continues to look for ways to put technology to work for customers to improve their overall commute, from the way they access travel information to their experience onboard trains and at facilities. To that end, new customer amenities have been introduced to rail customers in recent years, including online ticketing, automated announcements at rail stations, web access from mobile devices, DepartureVision and My Transit alerts.